Bhubaneswar: Over 88 minors were caught driving vehicles during a crackdown on underage driving across Odisha by the State Transport Authority (STA) which imposed hefty fines on violators.
The transport department imposed penalty of Rs 25,000 each on the violators and also seized the vehicles, sources said, adding that reports of violation of rules were received from different parts of the state during the drive.
In the coming days, strict action will be taken against illegal parking of vehicles along roads, they said.
Additional Commissioner, Transport, Enforcement, and Road Safety, Lalmohan Sethi said in view of the alarming road safety scenario and accident deaths in the state, every Tuesday is being observed as zero tolerance day against over-speeding vehicles, drunken driving, wrong-side driving, use of mobile phone while driving and violation of helmet and seatbelt law.
The government will also be observing a zero fatality week from April 1 across the state.
Stressing the importance of this drive, which is carried out around schools and colleges, Sethi said that 132 boys and 23 girls below the age of 18 years were killed in accidents in 2021 and this is a cause of concern.
He said that the enforcement is done under Section 199A of the MV Act, and vehicles will be seized and registration canceled. “The guardian of the child or owner of the motor vehicle operated by the minor will be slapped with a fine of Rs 25,000 and can be also imprisoned for up to three years. If found guilty, the details of the minor would entered into Sarathi Data base and s/he would not be able to get a driving license before the age of 25 years,” he added.
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